With thousands of U.S. troops poised on the brink of military action against Iraq, pop music superstar Moby says he’s “kind of impressed” with Saddam Hussein, especially relating to the dictator’s patience over the current political situation.

Pop superstar Moby

On his website where the singer/disc jockey offers daily thoughts on matters that concern him, the 37-year-old New Yorker – whose birthday ironically is Sept. 11 – discusses both the pros and cons about Iraq, while taking a few verbal shots at President Bush.

“It almost seems like Bush is doing everything he can to taunt Saddam,” writes Moby, whose real name is Richard Melville Hall, tracing his ancestry back to Herman Melville, author of the classic whale epic “Moby Dick.”

it goes without saying that i, like most sane people, find iraq’s actions over the last 20 years to be pretty reprehensible.

using chemical and biological weapons on iranians and kurds and sunni’s (is it sunni’s? or shiites? i forget, oops). burning the oil fields in kuwait. attacking israel with scuds. and so on.

but i’m actually kind of impressed by iraq’s patience right now…

i mean, look at it objectively. they’ve opened their doors to un inspectors, they’re being bombed by british and american troops, american forces are massing at their borders, american diplomats are actively looking to assinate saddam hussein, etc.

it almost seems like bush is doing everything he can to taunt saddam hussein. not just ‘if you step over this line i will hit you’, but ‘if you step over this line while i put rats on your back and put butter on the floor and make fun of your mom and move the line then i will hit you, in fact i’ll hit you even if you just stand there and do nothing.’

it’s painfully clear that iraq should not be allowed to have weapons of mass destruction. but it also seems painfully clear that the bush administration have no intention of finding a peaceful resolution to the situation in iraq.

which is a shame. cos at the end of the day peace is better than war, right?

or have things changed? according to the bush administration and the american media it would seem that most americans prefer war to peace. i’m guessing that’s because most americans have never actually experienced war. and just as it’s easy to eat meat if you never step foot in a slaughterhouse, it’s easy to espouse the virtues of war if you’ve never actually experienced war firsthand.

it’s a sign of dark and troubled times when a powerful nations leaders do their best to keep people away from the high road.

moby

In a December post in his website diary, Moby also relayed his disappointment that Al Gore had decided not to seek the presidency in the next election.

“This might not be a popular thing to say, but it’s a shame that Al Gore won’t run for president in 2004,” he wrote. “He’s probably one of the brightest, most capable, and decent politicians to ever run for higher office.

“And it’s a shame that he’ll go down in history as the man who lost a presidential election by having 500,000 more votes than his opponent.”

The precise difference in the popular vote was 337,576; but Bush won the race with a majority of electoral votes, as mandated by the Constitution.

Among Moby’s best known songs are “Porcelain” and “South Side,” a duet with Gwen Stefani of the rock group No Doubt. His 1999 “Play” album has sold close to 10 million copies worldwide.

He was nominated for Grammy Awards three straight years and has won awards from both MTV and VH-1 music channels.

Known for his liberal stances on social issues, Moby is a vegetarian who, according to MTV, refuses to travel anywhere by car, fearing it would damage the environment. His website features links to such groups as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the World Wildlife Fund, Amnesty International, Greenpeace, and the Nature Conservancy.